Turnabout Wallet
by Kikixeni
Summary: When Nick's wallet goes missing, Pearly is accused.
1. Chapter 1

Well... I wrote a fanfiction. I never thought I'd EVER do such a thing. But I found myself bored in Spanish class today and began writing, so... here's chapter one. Phoenix Wright belongs to Capcom and not me.

"C'mon Nick, I just need a few dollars!"

"Larry, get out of here."

I grabbed my friend by the back of his stupid orange jacket and threw him into the hallway, locking the office door behind him. Loud thumps could be heard from the other side as he made the futile effort to get back inside. I sighed.

"That Larry," came an exasperated voice, "he's just no good, is he?"

I turned to see my assistant, Maya, settled into the couch with the TV on. A bowl of chips rested on her lap. I had forgotten about her during Larry's tirade of a few minutes ago.

"He's no good?!" I snapped, towering over her. "You've been sitting on that couch all day!" Of course, so had I, but...

With eyes lingering on the TV, Maya shrugged. "It's the Steel Samurai marathon, Nick!" As though that were any excuse.

My name is Phoenix Wright, attorney at law. Friends call me Nick. One particular friend, who I've known since grade school, came to my office today. He wanted money for a date with some girl; Tina or Nina or Rita of whatever this one's name is. He only wanted ten bucks, but I wouldn't give it to him. Thus followed the biggest argument we've ever had. Actually, it was more like the biggest temper tantrum he's ever thrown. The guy was twenty-six, but acted like a two-year-old.

A few minutes after Larry left, I realized something that made my eyebrows furrow with anger. My wallet was gone!

"Are you sure it's gone?" Maya asked from her perch on the couch.

"It was sitting on my desk early this morning, but now it's gone!" I flipped over papers on my desk, as if my wallet were hiding beneath them. "Larry! He must've stolen it!" I raced to the door and yanked it wide open. Larry was no longer outside, but someone else was.

"Pearl!" I exclaimed. Maya's adorable little cousin was walking towards the door.

"Mr. Nick," the young girl chirped, "look at what I got at the store!" As she came closer, I could see a colorful string of plastic beads hanging from her neck. Her magatama was attached to the end, bouncing slightly with each step she took.

"That's very nice!" I said, forcing a weak smile. "Listen, have you seen Larry?"

"Yes! I met Mr. Laurice in the parking lot," she replied sweetly. "He looked sad though. I wonder if he is okay."

"He's fine, Pearls. Wait here." I ushered her into my office, where she was enthusiastically greeted by Maya. I could hear their voices talking happily as I charged down the hallway.

The parking lot was deserted. A cool wind blew dead leaves and a fast-food bag across the lot with a hollow rattling sound. Larry was nowhere in sight. "Damn him," I muttered under my breath. He'd gotten away. Defeated, I went back to my office to properly greet Pearls. I guessed Maya would have told her the story of my wallet, and I snickered at the thought of Pearl's reaction. She could certainly take care of the thief with a powerful Pearly-punch. She was really strong for a little girl. However, much to my surprise, Pearls was in tears when I arrived at my office.

"Mr. Nick, I didn't do it!" she wailed as I stepped through the door. She threw her arms around my waist and sobbed into my stomach.

I looked around the room in confusion. Maya had left the couch and was now seated at my desk. "What happened?!" I asked her.

Maya carefully folded her arms and began to explain. "This morning, after coming here with me, Pearly went to the convenience store down the street." I nodded. This was old news to me. Maya continued. "She was going to buy some milk, which I gave her money for. However, she came back with something extra." With a dramatic flourish, Maya pointed accusingly at Pearls. "That plastic necklace!"

"No Mystic Maya! You've made a mistake!"

"Pearly, just be honest with us! You took Nick's wallet, didn't you?" Poor Pearls cried harder. "It's okay Pearly, Nick will forgive you. Just confess already!"

"Hold it, Maya," I interjected. "Who's to say Pearls took my wallet? Where's the proof?"

"Where else would a little girl get that kind of money? The necklace had to cost at least ten dollars."

She raised a good point. "Pearls, where _did_ you get the money?"

Sniffling, Pearls pulled her face from my stomach. "I-I've been s-saving it up," she said.

"You see?" I said to Maya. She looked away. "C'mere Pearls." I lead her into the other room of the office and sat her down on a chair.

"I didn't do it, Mr. Nick!" she cried. "I can't believe Mystic Maya would accuse me of such a thing!"

"I know, Pearls." I said. The Steel Samurai theme song played in the other room. For great justice! His motto ran through my head. "And I'll prove it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two here. Thanks for the wonderful reviews. : ) I know it's unrealistic of Maya to accuse Pearl of such a thing but... hey, I needed a plot. Thanks for reading.

Did I believe Pearls had taken my wallet? Of course not. If I was going to push that crazy accusation out of Maya's head, there was one thing I needed to do: find my wallet. It's location (Larry's pocket, most likely) would surely prove Pearls' innocence, and um, I kind of needed it to buy dinner.

While Pearls sat, feet dangling, in a nearby chair, I pulled out my cell phone to call Larry.

_Ring ring_

"Do you think Mr. Laurice has your wallet, Mr. Nick?"

_Ring ring_

"I know he does, Pearls."

_Ring ring_

Larry picked up. "Hello?" His voice sounded meek, for some reason.

"Larry, it's me-"

"NICK! Oh Nick, why did this happen to me?!"

"What?"

"It's Lina, man! She left me! Oh, why?! WHY?!" I could picture Larry's face right now. Odds were his face was scrunched up; cheeks high, mouth grimacing, eyes brimming with tears. Luckily, I wasn't dealing with him face-to-face. "This is the end for me! Everything is going dark!" I heard a loud bang, followed by sobs, as if he had just slammed his head against a hard surface, which is probably what happened.

"Just calm down and explain to me what's going on, okay?" I hollered over his noise.

Larry sniffled. "I took Lina out to the movies, y'see? She wanted large popcorn. I pulled out my wallet to get the cash, but there wasn't enough. I couldn't afford it! So she left! SHE LEFT!" At this point, my feckless friend dissolved into a fit of incoherent moaning, to which I paid little attention. Instead, I waved to Pearls across the room, who smiled and waved back.

At last, Larry finished his explosion of whines. "You shouldn't have refused me the ten dollars I asked for!" he concluded.

"You shouldn't have dated such a shallow girl," I replied. Larry did not respond. "In any case, you haven't seen my wallet, have you?"

"Your wallet? No, why would I? You lose it or something?" Suddenly, Larry sounded cheerful.

"It went missing after you left my office."

Aaaaand cue the waterworks. "Don't accuse me Nick, I didn't take it!"

"Can I really believe that?"

"Of course you can!"

I had my doubts, but he sounded sincere. Maybe I hadn't searched hard enough in my office. "Alright. See you later, Larry." I hung up.

"Does Mr. Laurice have your wallet?" asked Pearls.

"I don't think so." She looked sad. "But maybe it's been in my office all along. Let's go take another look."

We walked into the other room. The first thing I noticed was that Maya was not longer there.

"Maybe Mystic Maya went to use the restroom," Pearls said quietly.

After setting Pearls to the task of searching my desk, I myself began searching by the TV. My wallet wasn't under the coffee table, nor behind the television stand, not on the bookcase, nor hidden in the leaves of Charley the plant.

Sitting on the couch, I tried to think of where else it could be. After a few minutes I realized the object I was looking for might be just underneath me- in the couch. After all, I had been sitting there all morning .Maybe my wallet fell out of my pocket and into the cushions, or something.

My hand plunged between the cushions and blindly felt around for what could have been my wallet, brushing against numerous food crumbs and sticky drink stains. Maybe I should stick a vacuum down there once in a while. My fingers touched something leathery. Upon pulling it out, I found that it was...

(drum roll please)

My wallet! Larry hadn't taken it after all. Neither had Pearls. Maya couldn't blame her any longer.

"Pearls, I found it!" I called to her. She was kneeling next to my desk, emptying the contents of the trash bin with rubber gloves on her hands. (Where did she get those, I wondered.) All the garbage from the bin laid in front of her, including crumpled papers, a dried out pen, an empty box of staples, and a hamburger wrapper.

Wait a minute... a hamburger wrapper?

"Congratulations, Mr. Nick!" She jumped up. "Now Mystic Maya will know I didn't steal it, right?"

"Wait a minute Pearls." My eyes were glued to the wrapper. "Hand me that, would you?"

The paper crinkled as she passed it over. It was colored yellow and green and was labeled with the logo of Maya and my favorite hamburger restaurant. We usually ate there once a week, but hadn't gone this week. Nor the last, because I had been so busy.

Then I understood. You could say it hit me like a ton of bricks, if you wanted to be cliché. The wallet hadn't fallen out of _my_ pocket, but it had been Maya's.

So that's chpt. 2. One more to go!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note : Well, here's the final chapter. It was tough to write, because Maya kind of acts out of character. Anyways, thanks for reading.

Pearls frowned when I told her what I believed had happened. Maya had stolen my wallet, bought hamburgers and for some reason, pinned the blame on her cousin. A ten-dollar bill missing from my wallet testified so. "I just don't understand why she'd do something so stupid. Of course, this is Maya we're talking about."

"I'm sure Mystic Maya had her own reasons!" Pearls said hotly, fist clenched. "After all, she wouldn't accuse me unless she had to, right?"

"I dunno, Pearls. Maya can be pretty strange sometimes." This was the wrong thing to say.

TWAP! Ow.

"Mr. Nick, that isn't true! Mystic Maya is kind and responsible! You of all people should know that, because you are her special-"

"So anyway-" Best stop her before she gets started with her "special someone" idea. (Which, for the record, is totally untrue.) "When Maya gets home she can explain this whole mess to us."

So we waited. Pearls watched TV while I filed documents at my desk. The air was tense, like the eye of a storm, although that's kind of a dramatic way of putting it. Maya didn't seem to be coming. After a while, I began to wonder: Where was she? Had she run away, feeling guilty? She could be in Kurain by now. Or had something bad happened to her? She _did_ have the tendency to get into trouble a lot. Right now, she could be sitting in a detention center cell, I thought, or working in a creepy French restaurant against her will, or be locked in an underground wine-cellar.

Never mind. She was at the door.

Pearl and I both looked up as Maya walked in. For a moment, everything was still. The three of us looked at each other, nervous, expectant. I broke the silence.

"Welcome back," I said firmly.

Immediately the mood relaxed. Maya seemed almost relieved. " Sorry I was gone so late!"

"..."

"Hiya Pearly!" She plopped down on the couch next to her, smiling cheerfully as if nothing was wrong between them.

"..."

Her happy attitude faded away as she realized something was the matter. "...What's wrong with you guys?"

"First of all, where were you?" I asked, leaning forward in my chair.

"Oh, I was just out. You know."

"No, I don't know. Where did you go?"

"Just out! Geez, don't be so nosy." She crossed her arms and set her eyes firmly on the TV, obviously uncomfortable.

Time to move on. "I found my wallet."

"Where!?" Her voice was urgent, eyes wide. "Um, I mean, that's great! Where did you find it?"

"In the couch cushions. I also found something else."

"O-oh? W-what's that?"

"A hamburger wrapper." At this point, she should have just given up. She should have known I had the evidence to pin her to her crime. But humans have an instinct that pushes them to fight until the bitter end, no matter how small their chances. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes it's bad. "You stole my wallet, didn't you, Maya?" I accused in a low voice.

She was quick to answer. "No way! You must've lost it yourself!"

"That isn't possible. Someone had to have used it for something, because some money is missing."

"Then it was Pearl or Larry. What would I use ten dollars for?" As soon as these words left her mouth, she clapped her hand over her mouth,

"Got you. There is no way you could've known that exactly ten dollars were missing- unless you were the one who spent them."

Maya looked crushed. She hung her head low as her shoulders drooped, defeated. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"That's all fine and dandy," I said, "But why would you do it? And why on earth would you blame Pearls?" As I said this, Pearls looked at her cousin with sad, questioning eyes.

Avoiding Pearls' gaze, Maya watched her knees and began to explain. "Well, I don't know. When I lost Nick's wallet, I panicked. I needed a scapegoat, anyone to take the blame until I replace the wallet. Just then, Pearly arrived and without thinking, I blamed her."

"So when you were gone, you were out looking for my wallet?"

"Yes. I usually return it before you notice it's gone, but..."

"WHAT?! Usually?! You take my wallet often?!"

"Yeah. Duh." She looked at me as though this were painfully obvious.

"Uggh... that explains why I'm so poor," I moaned, cradling my head in my hands. How could Maya do this to me?

"Anyway," I listened with my face in my arms as Maya spoke. "I'm really sorry, Pearly. I shouldn't have blamed you, I knew for a fact that you had your own money to buy that necklace." Her voice crackled.

"It's okay, Mystic Maya," Pearls replied. I looked up just in time to see the two hug.

And so ended the case of the missing wallet. It was a strange situation, but all's well that end well, I guess.

"You owe me ten dollars, Maya."

"Whatever, Nick."


End file.
